


The Kaelish Mists

by Sarai



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, Reading, excessive amounts of cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24221566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarai/pseuds/Sarai
Summary: Quite by accident, Jesper and Wylan come into possession of a romance novel. Jesper starts reading it as a joke, but Wylan can't get enough of the story.
Relationships: Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck
Comments: 12
Kudos: 124





	The Kaelish Mists

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flintandfuss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flintandfuss/gifts).



**Wylan  
  
**  
When he found the book under the settee, Wylan intended to set it aside. The paperback was surely one of Alys’s novels, forgotten when she moved back to her parents’ home, and could be easily enough sent along. He never bore her any ill will, but he wasn’t exactly surprised the sometimes easily distracted girl had forgotten so many of her things. Pretty hairpins and gloves were turning up all over the Van Eck mansion.  
  
Though… hairpins and gloves didn’t have cover images like _that_.  
  
It showed a sort of vague-looking young woman in the arms of a barrel-chested man. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, leaving his well-defined muscles on full display, arms and chest hairy as a cat’s belly. His hands looked massive on the woman’s hips. Wylan could just imagine being held by hands that big…  
  
His imagining was cut short by an unexpected hug. Those hadn’t just surprised Wylan at first—now that they were officially A Couple, now that they were—Ghezen—they were _living together_ , not hiding out in a tomb or stuck sharing a tent but actually _living together_ , Jesper had grown even more forward, physically. Wylan liked most of it. The surprises had taken getting used to, that was all. And he knew if he asked, Jesper would have stopped, but… Wylan didn’t want him to stop. After that momentary jolt of fear, Wylan remembered where he was and who he was with and let himself relax into the feeling of Jesper’s arms around him and Jesper’s chest against his back.  
  
“Mm, didn’t know you liked this sort of thing,” Jesper said, looking over Wylan’s shoulder.  
  
“I don’t, it’s Alys’s.”  
  
“A likely story. You’d like me more if I was a big, burly guy, huh?”  
  
Wylan wished he could kiss him but settling for squeezing his arm as he said, “I couldn’t possibly like you more. You’re wonderful just the way you are.” He didn’t have Jesper’s knack for easy praise, but he was trying. “I always,” Wylan began, then stopped himself.  
  
“No.” Jesper kissed his neck. “Tell me.”  
  
Wylan always felt better when he could. Jesper would dispel every one of his poisonous thoughts, first by not judging Wylan for having them, then for telling him they weren’t true. But admitting to them was something else Wylan struggled with.  
  
“It just made me feel—it’s cruel of me, but Alys… she… she’s silly. She’s very silly. I guess I thought… it…”  
  
“It’s okay, Wy.”  
  
“I felt dumb because she liked to read. Even Alys liked to read but I… can’t.”  
  
“She wasn’t reading great works of literature or treatises on the nature of man,” Jesper said. “Sometimes reading is just for fun. There’s nothing wrong with that, mind you. And you’re not dumb, you’re brilliant.”  
  
“Jesper,” Wylan objected, blushing.  
  
“Wylan,” Jesper teased, mimicking his inflection. “Anyway, this is a bodice-ripper, I guarantee no one talks about these in university lectures!”  
  
A… what? Trying not to show his confusion, Wylan said, “You’re right.”  
  
Jesper laughed. “Come on. I’ll read you a piece. Then you’ll see.”  
  
He plucked the book from Wylan’s hands and sprawled on the settee. Wylan hesitated. Then he settled against Jesper as he began leafing through the book.  
  
“Wait,” Wylan objected. “Start at the beginning.”  
  
Jesper turned back to the first page. “ _The Kaelish Mists_ by Riona Bragan. Chapter one…”  
  
He read the opening pages, in which the story, told from the main character’s perspective, described farm life, the green rolling hillsides of the Wandering Isle, and the Wild Man reputed to live in the woods near the family's farm. The main character also was close with their parents, who loved them.  
  
Jesper was a wonderful reader. He affected a Kaelish accent and read in a higher pitch, but not foolishly high. He changed his voice when characters other than the narrator spoke. Although the writing itself was sometimes silly, when Wylan closed his eyes, he felt utterly taken away from Ketterdam. He imagined the rich, bright green of each blade of grass; the damp of the air; the high trill of a thrush. He imagined being the main character, sitting down to supper with their parents and their little brother whose eyes glittered with mischief—a phrase Wylan thought was brilliant, if sort of unsettling, since it applied to Jesper as well as the main character’s brother.  
  
The only parts he didn’t like were when the main character was addressed by name, or called “daughter” or “girl”. They broke the illusion. But he could overlook that for an otherwise brilliant story.  
  
Then the glittery-eyed little brother took a bad fall and Jesper closed the book, announcing, “And that’s the end of chapter one.”  
  
Wylan sat up, blinking back to reality.  
  
“Fantastic, isn’t it?”  
  
He nodded eagerly. “Will you read more tomorrow?” he asked. Then, catching himself, Wylan amended, “If you don’t mind.”  
  
Jesper already did so much to help him with his reading, with the contracts and invoices and quarterly reports—there was so much for them to catch up on about running the business. Really Jesper was just amazing overall. Wylan had always known that, of course, but this newer Jesper—a Jesper willing to try using his powers, to resist the pull of the gambling halls, to live his life here and now—he was happier. It showed. Wylan knew it wasn’t easy, but Jesper was doing better and just seeing him glowing made Wylan smile.  
  
So Wylan didn’t want to ask too much of Jesper when Jesper was working so hard already.  
  
“I could read another chapter tonight,” Jesper suggested. Then, wiggling his eyebrows, “ _In bed_.”  
  
Wylan didn’t know why exactly that made him blush. It was Jesper’s tone more than his words, and it hit Wylan like an arrow. He didn’t mind in the least.  
  


* * *

  
 **Jesper  
  
**  
 _The Kaelish Mists_ was a terrible book. There were cliches on every page. Honestly, eyes that glittered with mischief? Flaming Kaelish hair? Running as swiftly as the wind? The author had never met a cliche she couldn’t use in a familiar and tired way. It was so bland it was almost brilliant. Not to mention she had clearly never in her life worked on a farm.  
  
When Jesper had jokingly called the book ‘fantastic’, he thought Wylan would laugh with him. Instead, the merchling lit up, eager. He actually liked this. Not as a joke, not for how bad it was, Wylan genuinely enjoyed this absolute garbagefire book. Jesper couldn’t tease him when he looked so bright and earnest.  
  
Rather than setting it aside to send to Alys at the earliest convenience, Jesper brought the book to their shared bedroom. He didn’t mind reading, especially to this audience. Wylan cuddled close to Jesper as he read. A few pages in and Wylan was curled up with his head in Jesper’s lap. While he read, Jesper carded his hand through Wylan’s hair, wrapped and unwrapped curls around his fingers.  
  
The story was taking off now. At the end of the first chapter, the narrator’s brother needed a medik. At the end of the second, she was captured by Fjerdan raiders.  
  
Wylan gasped and squeezed Jesper’s hand.  
  
“Aww, I won’t the Fjerdans get you.”  
  
“Hush.”  
  
“Okay,” Jesper said, pointedly putting the book aside.  
  
“No!” Wylan reached out and laid a hand on Jesper’s arm. “One more chapter? Please?”  
  
“Well which is it, gorgeous, hush or keep reading?”  
  
“Keep reading.”  
  
Wylan positively beamed at Jesper and, Saints, what he wouldn’t do for that smile. He picked up the book again.  
  
Nothing about the story surprised Jesper. The Fjerdans were uncouth, dirty, dangerous men. Standard fare. The Wild Man rescued the heroine—and already Jesper knew he would turn out to have a gentle soul and maybe a tragic backstory. She would be ready to leave, but he would be wounded. She would stay and tend to him. He would make small changes that she would treat like massive gestures.  
  
Clearly Alys had never seen fit to repeat the tales in romance novels to her stepson. Wylan tensed when it seemed the heroine would truly be trapped with those horrible Fjerdans and sighed in relief at her rescue. He gasped when the rescuer was the Wild Man. _No one had taught him these stories_ , and through his eyes, Jesper got to see it as something wonderful and exciting instead of something dull and overdone. Jesper wasn’t sure he had ever experienced these books for the first time. They had always been jokes, so he practically knew the books before picking one up.  
  
Jesper wasn’t sure he actually enjoyed this book, but he appreciated Wylan’s experience of it. He appreciated the reminder that the world was good and it was okay to like things.  
  
“All right,” he said, “that’s the end of chapter four and we are going to bed.”  
  
“We’re in bed,” Wylan objected.  
  
Jesper laughed. “Then we’re going to sleep.”  
  
They put out the lights. In the dark, before Jesper’s eyes had adjusted, he reached for Wylan, who was already reaching for him. There was brief, shifting uncertainty before they settled against one another.  
  
“Thank you, Jes,” Wylan said, once more cuddling close. There was something so certain in the feeling of a body pressed against his, so soothingly wanted. Any doubts Jesper ever had in daylight disappeared when he put his arms around Wylan and felt the merchling relax against him.  
  
“You don’t have to thank me for everything, you know. I like reading to you.”  
  
He did. He also enjoyed reading. Partly that was because of the audience, but partly it was the fun of performance. Affecting a Kaelish accent came easily to Jesper—for most of his life, he spent more time with his da than with anyone else. His normal, not-reading-for-dramatic-impact voice had a slight lilt because of that. He just leaned into it, and added emphasis for the dialogue.  
  
It was fun. When was the last time he had this much fun reading a book?  
  
“What about saying your voice is almost as beautiful as you are?”  
  
Jesper hesitated. He had to ask: “Are you blushing?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Jesper laughed. Wylan was definitely blushing.  
  
“You can say that,” Jesper said. “Just like I can say that you listen gorgeously.”  
  
“Don’t tease me.”  
  
“Not about this,” Jesper agreed. He never had and never would.  
  
By now it was clear he only knew the edges of what Wylan’s father had done, but it was the reason. Jesper didn’t mind jokes like _that_ _’s as likely as Jesper sitting still_ , because he wasn’t ashamed of that. It was like saying _that_ _’s as likely as Jesper being short_ or _that idea is as brilliant as Jesper is handsome_. He couldn’t help being tall, handsome, and energetic. Wylan couldn’t help how the letters jumbled around on the page, but it was hard to laugh at jokes that hurt him.  
  
“Do you think he’ll be okay?”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“Brede.”  
  
Brede, main character of _The Kaelish Mists_ , was going to be fine. It was a romance, they all had happy endings. Brede was also a woman, but that wasn’t the point. (Nor was it the point that Wylan absolutely butchered her name!)  
  
“I don’t know,” Jesper lied. “We’ll read more tomorrow.”  
  
And even knowing the answer, he looked forward to it.  
  


* * *

  
 **Jesper  
  
**  
“…and together we lived happily ever after. The end,” Jesper read the last words of the book. He closed it and set it aside.  
  
Of course they lived happily ever after, Brede and her Wild Man. They were always going to.  
  
“I like that ending,” Wylan said. He had a distant, dreamy smile on his face. _He_ hadn’t known they would live happily ever after, so the tension had been genuine, the uncertainty real.  
  
Jesper traced his thumb along Wylan’s lower lip.  
  
“I want to keep this.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Your smile. I want to keep it.”  
  
The smile in question widened. “It’s yours.” And then, not ten seconds later, it faded. Wylan pulled away from Jesper, which was also not what Jesper wanted, and propped himself up on his elbow before he asked, “Are there a lot of books like that one?”  
  
“Oh, yeah. Loads. More than even you can count.”  
  
“Do they have books about people like me?”  
  
Oh.  
  
Jesper settled lower in the bed, because this was one of those “look me in the eye” conversations.  
  
“Maybe a few here and there,” Jesper admitted.  
  
He didn’t mind that Wylan had said _people like me_ instead of _people like us_. They were different and that was okay. Only after he had answered did he realize…  
  
“You mean the romance is two guys, right? Not…”  
  
Wylan shook his head. “I don’t want to read about—I mean, who would write about… um… I’d like it, I think. If it were about two men.”  
  
“I’ll see what I can find.”  
  
“But if Alys left another one, would you read it to me?”  
  
“Of course I would. I might not do the accent.”  
  
“I liked the accent.”  
  
“You liked the book.”  
  
“I did,” Wylan said. “I liked how they got to know each other and fell in love. It was nice. Did you like it?”  
  
The book had been a disaster from start to finish. Unoriginal plot, unoriginal characters, even had a few errors scattered throughout it. But if people liked these stories, where was the harm? Jesper liked mysteries, he liked a book that kept him guessing, but romances weren’t mysteries. They weren’t for guessing, they were for good feelings—and that was okay. If a story was good once, it would be good a second or third time.  
  
He hadn’t actually liked the book, but he had liked Wylan’s reaction. He had liked reading it to Wylan.  
  
“I liked it,” Jesper said. “And do you know what?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“You own a publishing house.”  
  
“I know I do.”  
  
Yes, he knew he owned a publishing house, but he seemed not to understand how that related to this situation.  
  
“So, you’re lucky. You can publish the sweetest, silliest romances about people like us, as many as you like.”  
  
And that was something Jesper, too, wanted to be a part of. A mainstream line of romance novels just as cliche and boring as the ones about men and women? He wanted that. There ought to be other genre books, too, but he wanted goofy romances. He wanted stories where the hotel mixed up and there was only one bed, he wanted mutual pining, he wanted to see expressive boys and strait-laced boys falling in love.  
  
For Wylan, Jesper wanted that.  
  
For himself, he would also like to see main characters who were attracted to people of all genders, and books about people whose genders weren’t so strictly defined, and—there was a lot Jesper wanted for himself. For his merchling, he wanted the romances.  
  
Pulling away from his thoughts, Jesper saw that Wylan understood now.  
  
“Ah, there it is!”  
  
“What?” Wylan asked.  
  
“You promised me smiles.” Now he was smiling and blushing and practically glowing—very much delivering on his word.  
  
“Of course I’m smiling. You’re here, aren’t you?”  
  


* * *

**Wylan  
**  
  
Wylan was busy trying to run his father’s sprawling business empire; helping his mother, who wasn’t herself even after weeks and weeks at home; and looking for ways to make Geldin District a little more exciting for Jesper. He had rigged up a spring-loaded system to fire clay pigeons at various speeds—it wasn’t perfect, but between that and portraits of his father, Jesper had plenty to shoot at. (And he looked just… absolutely perfectly handsome doing so, if Wylan were able to find the air to say as much.)  
  
But when he had a moment alone between all of that, Wylan had secretly been scouring the house in hopes of finding another one of Alys’s novels. Jesper had finished reading the last one less than a week ago and Wylan wanted more. He wanted another story, another whirlwind romance, Jesper’s voice and his fingers combing through Wylan’s hair and just the two of them. Wylan wasn’t sure, but he thought Jesper did less tossing and turning those nights, too.  
  
He hadn’t turn up a single one of Alys’s novels, though. At least, he assumed. He would know by the cover image, right? Though not all books had those…  
  
The lack of book didn’t make Wylan reluctant to head to bed, though. After a difficult evening with his mother just lying down would be enough.  
  
“Is Marya okay?” Jesper asked when Wylan finally reached their bedroom.  
  
Wylan nodded. “She just gets confused.”  
  
“I know. Listen, this might not be the best time for it, but I—”  
  
Jesper didn’t finish his statement. He picked up a new book, a paperback like Alys’s complete with a different picture of a woman in a fancy dress and a half-naked man on the cover. That was enough.  
  
Wylan yelped and threw his arms around Jesper. He found one! No, bought, this was definitely a new book. A new book with a romance!  
  
“Whoa, easy,” Jesper said.  
  
Wylan stretched up to kiss him. “It’s exactly what I wanted. Thank you! Can we—um—would you…” He cast a meaningful look at their bed. Could they lie down and read now?  
  
Jesper laughed. “Look at you, so eager to jump into bed with me.”  
  
Wylan blushed. It was true, but that phrasing was… filled with implications!  
  
“Can’t help it that you’re wonderful,” Wylan said.  
  
“You truly can’t.”  
  
Even getting into bed he was more casual. Wylan liked to push the covers all the way back, settle down, and pull the covers over himself. Jesper just lifted the covers enough to get under them and that was that. It was quicker, efficient, and in Wylan’s opinion deeply suave.  
  
Going to bed had become his favorite part of the day ever since they picked up _The Kaelish Mists_ , though. The _adventure_! The… the _descriptions_ —sometimes Jesper stopped playing with Wylan’s hair just to jokingly warm his hands, Wylan was blushing so hotly. Honestly, these books were downright indecent.  
  
They were indecent and he loved them for it. And he loved Jesper, even if he hadn’t said that out loud yet.  
  
“Come on, then,” Jesper said, patting his lap.  
  
Sure, Wylan liked to cuddle while Jesper read. Jesper said he liked that, too. But did he have to be so… so…  
  
Wylan’s blush felt so hot he would almost swear his ears blistered.  
  
“Is something wrong, my sweet?” Jesper asked with such affected innocence he may as well have batted his eyelashes.  
  
Wylan didn’t reply. Words were definitely not happening right now. Instead, blush and all, he laid his head in Jesper’s lap. Which was what he wanted to do, he just didn’t need it… _mentioned_. Jesper ran his fingers through Wylan’s hair.  
  
“It’s okay, you know. We’re not doing anything wrong.”  
  
Wylan captured Jesper’s hand and pressed a kiss to his palm.  
  
He murmured, “Read to me.”  
  
Jesper did.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! My birthday is next month and I am writing fics for others to pregame it. If anyone wants a fic, please let me know! Character or pairing, specific prompt, vague genre, let me know what you want. (I can't promise they'll all be as long as this one, it got away from me a bit.)


End file.
